Thilo Kunkel

This study addresses the need to advance knowledge on sport participation from the perspective of managers and complements studies that examine this phenomenon from participants' perspectives. Using the case of basketball in Australia, data were collected from selected managers via two focus groups and 24 interviews in Queensland, Australia. Results demonstrated that managers believed basketball offers opportunities for participants to achieve an active and social way of living, and overcome challenges related to: climate (i.e., sun safety, rain) and population density, obesity among youth, integrating individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds, and community members' increasingly busy lifestyles. Whilst some of these findings reflect global trends (e.g., promoting healthy lifestyles), others manifest more local challenges (e.g., climate). Findings from this study enable more informed decisions on policy direction and program design and in promoting

One of the most valuable assets a sport entity possesses is its brand. However, existing sport branding research has largely examined brands at an individual level and not taken into account the relationships between connected brands or the actual behavioral outcomes of branding. This article provides an overview of the current state of sport branding research; proposes an extended conceptualization of sport brand architecture within a sport brand ecosystem framework to guide future examination of sport branding research; introduces the four articles published in this special issue; and presents insights from industry experts from diff erent brand entities within the sport brand ecosystem. Thus, this article provides a foundation to further examine brand relationships and actual behavioral outcomes of sport branding to contribute to our theoretical and managerial knowledge on sport brand architecture within the sport brand ecosystem.

This research explored the role of athlete on- and off-field brand image on consumer commitment toward the athlete and associated team, preference by the athlete’s sponsor, and the mediating effect of consumers’ self-brand connection on these relationships. Data were collected from fans of soccer players through a cross-sectional survey promoted on social media platforms. A partial least squares structural equation model examined the direct effects of both athlete brand dimensions on athlete commitment, team commitment, and athlete sponsor preference, and the indirect effects mediated via self-brand connection. The results indicate that an athlete’s on-field image is significantly related to athlete sponsor preference, while the off-field image influences athlete commitment and team commitment. Self-brand connection is influenced by athlete off-field image and mediates the relationship between off-field image and athlete commitment. This study contributes to a better understanding o...

Research Question: The current study examined the role of signalling and source credibility on athlete-related social media content. We examined the effect of three different posting sources on sport consumer perceptions of athlete brand image and social media engagement with athlete-related content. Research Methods: Data were collected via an online experiment which presented information about an athlete to three groups. Group one received the content direct from the athlete, whereas group two and three saw the same content presented by indirect sources (the athlete's team and a news media outlet). In total, 315 consumers participated in the experiment. ANCOVA and MANCOVA tests were used to test the hypotheses. Results and Findings: In general, sport consumers possessed more favourable attitudes towards athlete content on social media when it was presented by an indirect source. This content was perceived as more credible and less biased than when the same information was sent from the athlete directly. Results demonstrated some evidence consumers' intentions to engage with athlete-related social media content were greater when this content was posted by an indirect source, rather than directly by the athlete. Implications: This research contributes to knowledge guiding athlete brand development via social media. Athletes need to be aware that not only the type of content posted about them influences consumer perceptions about their brands, but so too does the source of the content. To build their brands effectively and to elicit engagement, athletes should collaborate with credible and trustworthy third-party organisations when communicating via social media. ARTICLE HISTORY

Research question: Long-term relationships between customers and organisations can benefit both parties. The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of service-related actions provided by a professional sport team on relationship quality (RQ). The current study is aimed at answering two research questions: (1) 'what are antecedents of RQ?' and (2) 'how do the composition and quality of services provided by sports organisations impact customer perceptions of the quality of their relationship?' Research methods: Over 3300 season ticket holders (STH) of a professional Australian Football team were surveyed. The predictive ability of the antecedents and RQ was examined by testing the direct relationship between RQ and STH behavioural intentions, including intentions of remaining a STH and referral intention. Results and findings: Four key service and performance-related antecedents (service quality, communication, administration and on-field performance) had a positive influence on RQ. RQ was a significant predictor of intentions to remain a STH and referral intention. Implications: This study contributes to sport management literature by highlighting the importance of developing high-quality relationships. Areas team management can directly control, such as good administration and communications efforts, improve perceptions of the relationship between STH and team, providing a potential buffer against unpredictable on-field outcomes that are a feature of professional sport. Our findings should encourage sport managers to use strategic service-related actions within their operations to positively influence the deep and long-lasting relationships between STH and a sports team. ARTICLE HISTORY

Acknowledging the prevalence of new brands and rebranding activities in the present sport landscape, the current research examined consumer perceptions of new sport brands over time. Season-ticket holders and fans (N = 7,590) of eight teams were tracked over the first 5 years of a league's existence. Brand associations were measured with a free-thought listing technique, and a coding process surmised 18 brand associations related to teams in the league, with six representing benefits and 12 representing attributes. Initially, responses were attribute dominant; however, benefits increased proportionately over the 5-year period of exploration. Findings extend knowledge on the development of consumer-based brand associations of new sport brands over time, highlight contextual differences between brands, and demonstrate the impact of star players on teams within sport-brand architecture. Given their application to global sport settings, these findings have implications for sport managers who introduce new brands to the marketplace.

Paul Glover is the media manager for the ACT Brumbies team that competes in the international Super Rugby competition, which has teams in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, and Japan. Prior to moving to the Brumbies, Glover held a variety of roles in media, from his beginnings at a Christian radio station in Wol-longong, New South Wales, to working on-air in both radio as an announcer and television, where he was a reporter. Since leaving radio and television, Glover has had several roles as a media manager, first with an aged-care organization and now with the ACT Brumbies rugby union team in Canberra, Australia's capital city. This interview covers numerous topics ranging from how the team communicates with a variety of stakeholders (e.g., sponsors, fans, media members) of the ACT Brumbies to build a brand and manage it during times of crisis to how the team uses social media to showcase its players when they are playing overseas. Authors: What do you do day to day? What do you do on game day and non-game day? Glover: Day-today media relationships are the most important aspect in my role. You can have all the writing skills in the world, you can have all the knowledge of sport in the world, but if you don't know how to communicate properly in a face-to-face conversation with someone or if you don't know how to take a phone call from a journalist without them getting angry at you, so it's vital that you need to have the necessary interpersonal skills where you can converse with someone honestly and respectfully. If you don't have that relationship with your colleagues

Bill Yole is the social media coordinator and webmaster for the ACT Brumbies Super Rugby team. This interview covers Yole’s role with the club, including the day-to-day social media operations at the Brumbies and how content creation is key to the engagement of fans locally and internationally. This is particularly vital to Yole’s role because of the Brumbies’ international exposure through competing in Super Rugby, which is played in seven nations, and the number of representative players in national teams alongside several of the Brumbies players’ having heritage in the Pacific Islands. Yole also discusses how he took advantage of opportunities during his studies to secure full-time employment after he completed his sports media degree at the University of Canberra. The full text of the paper is available here: http://journals.humankinetics.com/doi/abs/10.1123/ijsc.2017-0060

Michael Lahoud is a professional soccer player who currently plays for Miami FC in the North American Soccer League (NASL). He was born in Sierra Leone, where he escaped civil war when he was 6 years old. As a refugee, soccer helped him integrate in the United States, where he was drafted as the ninth overall pick in the 2009 Major League Soccer (MLS) superdraft. He is a community advocate who uses his sport to support charitable efforts such as the Wall Las Memorias project, the NoH8 campaign, and Schools for Salone. He was the MLS Humanitarian of the Year in 2010, and, together with Kei Kamara, he is the recipient of the 2015 FIFPro World Players’ Union Merit Award (a prize worth $25,000), which recognized their involvement in the Schools for Salone project that builds schools in their home country of Sierra Leone. His brand is Soccer can make a difference. This interview consists of two parts, with the first part being conducted in December 2015 when he was a player with the MLS ...

Abstract Sport brand research primarily focuses on sport teams as brands. Although the literature focuses on teams, league branding is becoming increasingly important, due to the fact that professional sport leagues face an increasing competition for spectators, and against other entertainment opportunities. In a desire to be the preferred code of choice, managers of the respective league brands look to leverage their brand associations to establish brand equity in order to buffer the plethora of entertainment choices available to ...

ABSTRACT The goal of this study is to determine what factors affect the attractiveness of both national football leagues and the Champions League from the perspective of fans, and how these factors are perceived by fans of clubs at the top and bottom of the league standing. This is ...

ABSTRACT The goal of this study is to determine what factors affect the attractiveness of both national football leagues and the Champions League from the perspective of fans, and how these factors are perceived by fans of clubs at the top and bottom of the league standing. This is ...

ABSTRACT This research broadens the understanding of sport spectator segmentation by providing evidence of validity for a segmentation tool which groups sport spectators into stages of increasing psychological connections. Specifically, this research included the Psychological Continuum Model (PCM) (Funk & James, 2001; 2006) and the involvement based PCM segmentation process (Beaton, Funk & Alexandris, 2009) as a basis to understand the subset of consumers that exist amongst sport spectator populations. The PCM has been acclaimed and used in various sport, leisure and tourism research streams to understand the psychological connections consumers develop with various sport and leisure objects (Beaton et al, 2009; Beaton, Funk, Ridinger & Jordan, 2011; Funk, Beaton & Pritchard, 2011; Filo, Chen, King & Funk, 2011). Though the PCM is widely employed as a theoretical framework, to date, the related segmentation procedure has only been empirically validated on sport participants. Further validation is needed as the PCM was developed to be appropriate for a wide range of applications in sport and leisure, including sport spectator segmentation (Funk & James, 2001). This paper therefore extends previous research by empirically testing the involvement-based segmentation procedure on sport spectators. Data were collected using two online studies which focused on consumers at both the league and team level. This decision was made as spectators may follow a specific league without focusing on one particular team, and vice versa (Branscombe & Wann, 1991), and to increase the generalisability of results. Study 1 focused on spectators (N = 761) of Australia’s two most popular football leagues, the National Rugby League (NRL) and the Australian Football League (AFL). Study 2 utilised spectators with links to teams within either of these codes (N = 623). Both studies collected data assessing the respondents’ involvement with the sport organisation, attitudes towards the organisation and behaviour exhibited towards supporting the organisation. Data analyses explored the subset of consumers that existed within each sample as well as their reported differences in terms of attitudes and behaviours. For both samples, the established three-step PCM segmentation procedure (Beaton et al, 2009) placed respondents into the defined PCM stages of Awareness, Attraction, Attachment and Allegiance. ANOVA with Games-Howell post-hoc tests indicated the four groups were significantly different from one another on attitudinal and behavioural measures. Specifically, the likelihood of an individual possessing durable positive attitudes and displaying behaviours supportive of their chosen sport organisation increased in line with the PCM hierarchy (i.e., from awareness to attraction, from attraction to attachment and from attachment to allegiance). Findings support the theoretical perspective offered by the PCM and its proposed stages of fan development. Findings also provide preliminary evidence the segmentation tool is appropriate for use with spectator samples, and can help sport marketers better understand their diverse consumer bases. After segmenting spectators into the PCM stages, sport marketers can develop targeted marketing campaigns with the specific wants and needs of each group in mind. Efforts geared at satisfying each spectator segment and moving spectators onto the next level of psychological connection should be embraced by sport marketers at both the league and team level.

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of fan engagement on merchandise purchase intentions. We draw on existing fan engagement literature and focus on non-transactional fan engagement and its effects on merchandise purchasing as a single transactional fan engagement dimension. Data were collected from 206 season ticket holders (Study 1) and 520 fans of professional sports teams (Study 2) and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings show non-transactional fan engagement dimensions explain 51% (Study 1) and 60% (Study 2) of merchandise purchase intentions and consumption is driven by fan engagement dimensions related to the individual fan, rather than those dimensions that are influenced by others. This article contributes to the sports marketing literature by providing specific insights on the relationship between non-transactional fan engagement dimensions and merchandise consumption intentions. Thus, the findings have important implications for sport marketers as merchandise represents a crucial revenue stream of sport organizations.

Delivering community-based benefits is oftentimes cited to justify the high costs associated with hosting large-scale events. The current research is embedded in positive psychology to examine how an event impacts host community members' PERMA domains, reflected through positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment. Adopting a longitudinal approach, the authors interviewed 15 host community members before and after a large-scale sport event to determine if and how the event impacted their well-being. The findings uncovered evidence that the event activated positive emotions, relationships, and meaning across both phases, and evidence of accomplishment within the postevent phase. The findings contribute to the knowledge by examining the links between large-scale sport events and well-being throughout the event lifecycle. This research forwards implications for event bidding committees, event organizers, and host community officials to maximize community well-being through hosting large-scale events and to help justify associated expenses from a social-psychological perspective.

Organizations increasingly use gamification to engage with, and influence, con-sumers' attitudes and behaviors. In this article, we present findings from a longitudinal , mixed-method research design that (1) examined the extent to which game design elements created by a third-party app lead to increased attitudinal loyalty toward core service providers and (2) sought to explain the underlying processes that invoke attitudinal change. Behavioral data collected from app users indicated that knowledge-focused affordances positively influenced consumer loyalty and explained 11.3% of the variance in attitudinal change. Follow-up interviews revealed that Rewards, Competition, Sense of Achievement, and Gaining Knowledge were representative of consumers' motives for using the app, and Engagement and Identity explained how using the gamified application influenced users' attitudinal loyalty toward the core service. Overall, we contribute to knowledge about how gamified affordances can be used to add value to consumer experiences, both in relation to the gamified consumption experiences, and the focal brand that is serviced by a third-party app. K E Y W O R D S engagement, gamification, loyalty, mobile application

This research contributes to our understanding of the name, image, and likeness (NIL) value of student-athletes’ social media profiles. In Study 1, we scraped data from the Twitter (Nf = 3,880; Nb =757) and Instagram (Nf = 2,223; Nb = 647) profiles of male collegiate-level football and basketball athletes. In Study 2, we scraped data from the Twitter (N =1,058; posts = 20,978) and Instagram (N = 1,410; posts = 16,453) profiles of all student-athletes of four (two top-tier and two mid-tier) representative universities. Applying influencer marketing industry standard rates, the current research shows that student-athletes possess NIL value. Results further indicate student-athletes’ NIL value has a relationship with, but is not solely generated at, the institution level. Thus, this research contributes to student-athlete personal branding knowledge and informs discussion around policy and industry practice related to student-athletes, university athletics departments, athletic conferences, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Research Question: Social media platforms provide opportunities for athletes to promote their personal brands and attract engagement from consumers. Through this research, we examined the factors that influence social media engagement (likes and comments) with athlete content on Instagram. Research Methods: We monitored the posting habits of every MLS player with a public Instagram profile over a one-month period. In total, 1727 Instagram posts from 289 male professional athletes were included in the study. Drawing upon self-presentation theory, the Model of Athlete Brand Image, and relationship marketing, each post was dummy coded according to its content type and the overarching marketing orientation reflected by the characteristics of the post. Results and Findings: Results from ANOVA and hierarchical regression tests indicated the Athletic Performance content type attracted higher rates of consumer engagement than other content types. Posts containing good quality photos, and the athlete's teammates positively influenced engagement rates; whereas including hashtags negatively influenced engagement. Implications: Overall, this research extends knowledge surrounding athlete branding via social media and supports that impression management adopting a relationship marketing approach facilitates improved consumer engagement. Through this research we develop the Model of Athlete Branding via Social Media, which athletes and sport professionals can use to guide their social media strategy. ARTICLE HISTORY

Research Question: The current research examined the effect of an athlete promoting his philanthropic efforts to his Instagram followers. Specifically, we assessed how adopting this strategy impacted his followers' perceptions of, and level of fandom towards, his personal brand. Research Methods: We used a longitudinal research design including a pre-intervention survey, an intervention, and a post-intervention survey separated by a six-month interval. We analysed free-thought brand associations, perceptions of athlete philanthropy, and levels of fandom reported by an athlete's Instagram followers from two independent samples (N T1 = 165; N T2 = 172) and a longitudinal sample (N = 32). Results and Findings: Results indicated that the athlete's promotion of his philanthropic activities positively impacted his brand image. This change was characterized by a shift from the prominence of sport-specific brand attributes to perceptions of overall character. In addition, followers reported increased perceptions of the athlete's engagement in philanthropy, and stronger levels of overall fandom towards the athlete. Research Implications: Findings demonstrated the promotion of philanthropic activities impacted the brand associations consumers linked to the athlete's personal brand, and strengthened the overall connection between the athlete and his followers. Findings extend athlete branding knowledge and provide practical implications to inform how athletes and agents may implement social media brand management. ARTICLE HISTORY

The athleisure phenomenon has initiated a fast-paced evolution in the activewear industry and challenged brands to design and market activewear that fulfills consumer needs. Existing sport consumer behavior research has neglected to understand the structural relationships that connect attributes of sport products with values of sport consumers to inform values-based product design and marketing strategies. The current research utilizes the means-end chain theory and its corresponding soft laddering method to investigate the activewear consumption experience of female consumers. Findings revealed means-end chain structural relationships connecting five product attributes to three end-state values through four consequences associated with activewear consumption. Findings extend the sport management literature by understanding how sport product attributes fit into abstract consumer values and drive practical implications to enlighten activewear design and marketing.

Athlete brands exist within a network of brand relationships. Thus, considering the joint influences of related brands at different levels (league, team, and athlete) is essential for understanding how athlete brands
are built. We focus on growth factors impacting athletes’ social media followings (Twitter and Instagram) around the critical juncture of team transfer periods. We use data from the NFL Draft, because this moment in time provides a key opportunity to capture combined influences from league-, team-, athlete-, and platform-related factors on athlete brand development. Through comparing a large sample of athlete social media followings before and after the draft, we identify immediate changes as athletes start their professional careers. Results indicate examining multiple factors in the same model is essential for understanding the role each plays in building athlete brands. The league and team represent master brands into which an athlete brand is integrated, and consequently athlete brands are provided with benefits from these new brand relationships.
Results further demonstrate network effects, highlighting the importance of possessing a strong brand before a high-profile event.

Purpose-Existing research neglected examining the environmental effect of an event on the effectiveness of sponsorship activation in a competitive setting. The purpose of this study is to explore how the event environment impacts consumers' attitudinal and behavioral responses to competitive brands that co-present at an event. Design/methodology/approach-The research comprised an exploratory pre-test and two studies at a sport event with a retailing environment. The exploratory pre-test was used to examine the competitive relationship in the local market between the market leader and the lesser-known sponsoring brand. Study 1 used structural equation modelling to test how the event environment impacts consumers' attitudes toward both brands at the post-consumption stage. Study 2 compared actual sales data of the two competing brands to examine the immediate effect of the sponsorship space on consumption. Findings-The results revealed the event environment had an impact on consumers' brand attitude toward both the lesser known sponsoring brand and the non-sponsoring market leader. However, the effect on the sponsoring brand that activated its sponsorship was influenced by consumer involvement with the event and was more salient. Furthermore, the product sales of the less-known sponsoring brand outperformed that of the market leader that co-presented at the event. Originality/value-This study addresses a call to go beyond exploring the brand image of the sponsoring brands in isolation and holistically examine sponsorship effectiveness. The study contributes to knowledge on both attitudinal and actual behavioural outcomes of sponsorship activation in a competitive environment.

Research question: Analogous to traditional brands, athlete (i.e. personal) brands require management and maintenance. While the use of athlete endorsers is an effective marketing strategy for companies wanting to increase visibility, research has failed to indicate how advertising influences perceptions of the athlete endorser (i.e. spill-over effects). This research addresses this gap by examining the influence of four advertising appeals on perceptions of an athlete endorser expertise, trustworthiness, attractiveness and likeability. Research method: Experimental between-subjects study design. MANOVAs with post hoc analyses were used to examine differences between advertisement appeals. Regression was used to examine the influence of respondent attitudes towards the advertisement on perceptions of the athlete endorser. Results: Results revealed that perceptions of the athlete endorser were influenced by the type of advertising appeal. In opposition to existing research, emotional appeals did not outperform informational appeals. However, results demonstrated that spill-over effects existed from the advertisement appeal to the athlete endorser. Implications: The results indicate that advertising influences consumer perceptions of athlete endorsers. Consequently, athletes must consider how advertising appeals are applied and consider the residual effects that are generated from product advertisements.

Research Question: The current study examined the role of signalling and source credibility on athlete-related social media content. We examined the effect of three different posting sources on sport consumer perceptions of athlete brand image and social media engagement with athlete-related content. Research Methods: Data were collected via an online experiment which presented information about an athlete to three groups. Group one received the content direct from the athlete, whereas group two and three saw the same content presented by indirect sources (the athlete's team and a news media outlet). In total, 315 consumers participated in the experiment. ANCOVA and MANCOVA tests were used to test the hypotheses. Results and Findings: In general, sport consumers possessed more favourable attitudes towards athlete content on social media when it was presented by an indirect source. This content was perceived as more credible and less biased than when the same information was sent from the athlete directly. Results demonstrated some evidence consumers' intentions to engage with athlete-related social media content were greater when this content was posted by an indirect source, rather than directly by the athlete. Implications: This research contributes to knowledge guiding athlete brand development via social media. Athletes need to be aware that not only the type of content posted about them influences consumer perceptions about their brands, but so too does the source of the content. To build their brands effectively and to elicit engagement, athletes should collaborate with credible and trustworthy third-party organisations when communicating via social media. ARTICLE HISTORY

Acknowledging the prevalence of new brands and rebranding activities in the present sport landscape, the current research examined consumer perceptions of new sport brands over time. Season-ticket holders and fans (N = 7,590) of eight teams were tracked over the first 5 years of a league's existence. Brand associations were measured with a free-thought listing technique, and a coding process surmised 18 brand associations related to teams in the league, with six representing benefits and 12 representing attributes. Initially, responses were attribute dominant; however, benefits increased proportionately over the 5-year period of exploration. Findings extend knowledge on the development of consumer-based brand associations of new sport brands over time, highlight contextual differences between brands, and demonstrate the impact of star players on teams within sport-brand architecture. Given their application to global sport settings, these findings have implications for sport managers who introduce new brands to the marketplace.

Research question: Long-term relationships between customers and organisations can benefit both parties. The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of service-related actions provided by a professional sport team on relationship quality (RQ). The current study is aimed at answering two research questions: (1) 'what are antecedents of RQ?' and (2) 'how do the composition and quality of services provided by sports organisations impact customer perceptions of the quality of their relationship?' Research methods: Over 3300 season ticket holders (STH) of a professional Australian Football team were surveyed. The predictive ability of the antecedents and RQ was examined by testing the direct relationship between RQ and STH behavioural intentions, including intentions of remaining a STH and referral intention. Results and findings: Four key service and performance-related antecedents (service quality, communication, administration and on-field performance) had a positive influence on RQ. RQ was a significant predictor of intentions to remain a STH and referral intention. Implications: This study contributes to sport management literature by highlighting the importance of developing high-quality relationships. Areas team management can directly control, such as good administration and communications efforts, improve perceptions of the relationship between STH and team, providing a potential buffer against unpredictable on-field outcomes that are a feature of professional sport. Our findings should encourage sport managers to use strategic service-related actions within their operations to positively influence the deep and long-lasting relationships between STH and a sports team. ARTICLE HISTORY

Bill Yole is the social media coordinator and webmaster for the ACT Brumbies Super Rugby team. This interview covers Yole's role with the club, including the day-today social media operations at the Brumbies and how content creation is key to the engagement of fans locally and internationally. This is particularly vital to Yole's role because of the Brumbies' international exposure through competing in Super Rugby, which is played in seven nations, and the number of representative players in national teams alongside several of the Brumbies players' having heritage in the Pacific Islands. Yole also discusses how he took advantage of opportunities during his studies to secure full-time employment after he completed his sports media degree at the University of Canberra. Authors: What is your role and what do you do on a day-today basis? Yole: I am the social media coordinator and webmaster. Maintaining and running the website is a big part of my day-today work. This involves making sure the information is up-to-date on every page, ensuring that there are no errors anywhere, like in pages or contact forms. And I also run the day-today management of our social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. That includes responding to questions on social media, pushing out sponsorship and news content, taking photos of events, and compiling albums. I write a lot of the news content that appears on the Brumbies website as well. Essentially, everything that goes on the social media account and website is my responsibility.

Consumers’ evaluations of their favorite sport team’s contests are influenced by the value that the team provides to them. The current research contributes to the sport management literature through conceptualizing and measuring the dimensions that influence the perceived value consumers link with their favorite sport team’s games and testing the explanatory ability of this perceived value on their satisfaction with, and commitment toward, the team. Five semi-structured expert interviews were conducted to conceptualize perceived value dimensions and measurement items. Next, a multi-dimensional Consumers’ Perceived Value of Sport Games scale (CPVSG) was developed and tested across two studies with football (soccer) consumers (N1 = 225; N2 = 382) in Germany. Results from CFA and SEM analyses indicate that five dimensions – functional, social, emotional, epistemic, and economic value – reflect perceived value dimensions that consumers associate with sport team games. Results also indicated these perceived value dimensions were predictive of consumers’ satisfaction with, and commitment toward, their favorite team. Thus, this research adds to the literature by providing the multi-dimensional CPVSG scale and demonstrating its value in explaining variance in attitudinal outcome variables.

Understanding the role of the league brand on consumers’ support for individual teams is important for the successful management and marketing of both leagues and teams.  In the current research, brand architecture and brand association literature are integrated to examine the role of the league brand on the relationship between the team brand and team-related behavior. Data from an online survey of professional soccer league consumers (N = 414) were analyzed using structural equation modelling with bootstrapping procedures. The relationship between the team brand and team-related behavior was partially mediated by the league brand. Findings of this research contribute new knowledge by empirically demonstrating that characteristics of the league brand have an influence on team-related behavioral intentions. Furthermore, we contribute a different analytical approach for brand association research using formative indicators to measure team and league brand associations. In the managerial implications we outline how league managers can support individual teams, and how team managers can leverage off the league brand to attract consumers.

The results from this study extend previous research by empirically testing the involvement based Psychological Continuum Model (PCM) segmentation procedure on sports spectators. To date, the procedure has only been verified using sports participants, although the PCM was developed with a broader range of sports consumers in mind. The validity of the procedure is confirmed using two online surveys, which gather data from spectators at both the league (n=761) and team (n=623)
level. A three-step segmentation procedure then
places respondents into the PCM stages – awareness, attraction, attachment and allegiance. ANOVA tests indicate that the four groups significantly differ from one another on attitudinal and behavioural measures for both league and team spectators. Findings suggest that the PCM is an appropriate framework to investigate fan development at both league and team levels.
Thus sports marketers are provided with a research segmentation tool capable of helping them to better understand their heterogeneous consumer bases and thus guide marketing decisions.